One Path
by breakaway-republic
Summary: Leiline angst. 2 members of the Outlaw Star crew are left alone with their thoughts and then each other at the Leiline. I'll have to give it a PG for some non-sexual nudity


**Looks like the Muse has ordained that I devote my energy to writing short little Aisha/Jim fics for the time being. I guess I should take this opportunity to mention that I don't make any claims of ownership of Outlaw Star or any charachters in the story. Having said that, I thought they glossed over some parts of "Maze of Despair" a little too quickly. Here's my take on what happens on the way back to the ship** 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  


Damn you Aisha Clanclan, the boy said to himself as he sprinted down the surreal, otherworldly pathway. You said you'd never abandon me. Now here I am all by myself. The place had a very stark beauty to it- the path he was running down looked like black marble inlaid with gold- but he was in no condition to appreciate it. Aniki, Aisha, Mel, Suzuka.....please be all right he silently pleaded. Please be alive. I don't want to be all alone, not again. 

Gene was fine, he had just seen him head off into the inner pathway of the Leiline. But that was another lifetime as far as he was concerned. Harry McDougal was mangled almost beyond recognition and Gene would have to face whoever did that to Harry if he wanted to get Melfina back. That must have been Hazanko or one of his subordinates who killed him. Jim wanted to help. He didn't want to lose Melfina, either. He didn't want to stand by and let Gene wind up in a bloody heap like Harry. But nobody wanted his help today, out of all days. Jim felt so helpless and alone. They thought they were protecting him, but Jim felt betrayed and abandoned by those closest to him. He couldn't understand why. 

The vow between him and Gene was an unspoken one made long ago on Sentinel-3, but Aisha's promise was still fresh in his mind. She dried his tears and said that she would never abandon him. It was real, he knew he didn't dream it up. Why did she leave him to fend for himself? 

He continued running, lost in thought. Was this even the way he came in? Up ahead of him a figure wearing nothing but a bell, a green scarf and a 4-foot long white braid was lying facedown on the ground.   
  


"Will you get going?!" Aisha remembered snarling angrily at Jim. Looking back on it, that wasn't her first choice for her parting words to him but Jukai was watching. If he was going to survive, she had no time to spare Jim's feelings. She saw the hurt look in his eyes as he reluctantly turned away to find Gene; why did he heave to look at her like that? Didn't he know it was for his own good? Better to hurt his feelings than let him stay and have this bastard snap him like a twig, she though. Iraga was strong, but she was also careless and that was her undoing. Leilong wasn't that strong, but he was fast and cunning and Aisha had greatly underestimated him- a mistake that had almost cost her dearly. This one she wasn't so sure about, only that he was hiding much of his power and talked too much, like Iraga. Even though the Leyline had no visible moon, she had enough energy stored up to change into her full beast form. There was the very real chance that she could attack Jim while in her she-tiger state. 

She was still on the ground- it felt cool and almost soothing against her naked flesh. Her body was covered by small scratches and some bruises. She barely had enough strength left to keep her eyes open but judging from the pool of blue liquid and the pile of rags with some spikes protruding from them that she glanced at out of the corner of her eye, it looked like Jukai was in worse shape. However, she was in no mood to celebrate. She was naked, exhausted and helpless. What if more pirates or the McDougals showed up? Was she even still alive? For all she knew, she and Jukai could've killed each other and this could very well be the afterlife. Too bad she never got a chance to say goodbye...... 

Her train of thought was interrupted by approaching footsteps and somebody gently shaking her. Was it Gene or Suzu back from the legendary storeroom of Dragonite? Maybe it was one of the Anten assassins sent to kill off any stragglers- or perhaps one of the lesser C'tarl gods that prowled between the Land of the Dead and the World of the Living, coming to take her away. 

"Aisha! Aisha? Are you okay? Talk to me......." A familiar voice spoke up. 

"Jim....?" she drowsily asked and turned her head. She didn't expect him to come back so soon, but she also had no idea how long she had been out. At first she was afraid that Jim had died, too and was joining her in the Land of the Dead. For some reason, she rationalized that if she was naked and he was fully clothed, then she must still alive. Jim was looking down at her with great concern but was remarkably calm. She smiled faintly as she noticed the boy was making eye contact with her, passing up the opportunity to ogle her naked body. 

"Here." He slipped out of his jacket and did his best to wrap the too-small garment around her shoulders as she took his hand and very slowly got to her knees. What a little gentleman, she thought to herself. "What happened?" he asked as he surveyed the damage. Bits of Aisha's shoulder armor were embedded in the floor as well as what must have been chunks of Jukai. 

Aisha put a hand to the side of her head and almost tumbled back onto the ground. He caught her and held onto her, his eyes darting between her face and the path ahead of them. "It wasn't pretty Jim." she said in a hoarse voice. 

"I'll say." What a mess, he said to himself. He was beginning to understand why she was so eager to have him leave. He reached into the pocket of his cargo pants, pulled out a small canteen, unscrewing the cap and holding it to Aisha's lips. "Here- drink this." She looked a little bewildered, thinking at first that it was booze. Ordinary tap-water never tasted so sweet as far as Aisha was concerned. She grabbed it with one hand and greedily swallowed the contents of the canteen. Jim held onto the canteen with one hand while the other was on her shoulder, trying to keep his jacket on her and making sure she didn't lose her balance. 

"You're prepared for anything, aren't you?" she heard herself say in an unusually playful tone before gently ruffling his hair. It hurt her to do that, but she was relieved to see Jim alive and well and figured it was a small price to pay. Physically, she still felt like crap but she was in a much better mood now that she saw for herself Jim was alive and well. "How about you? Are you OK?" she asked. Aisha was getting up onto her feet and gingerly stepping forward while leaning on his shoulder. Every muscle and tendon in her body ached. She was stooped over a little bit, and Jim was the only thing she could use for support. 

"I'm fine." he understated. I was so worried, he wanted to say. You didn't forget your promise to me, and if you're doing fine, then Aniki, Mel and Suzuka might come back and all of us could cut our losses and get out of here. "We have to get back to the Outlaw Star." he said, remembering Gene's instructions. 

The C'tarl C'tarl didn't argue. A change of clothes and some desperately needed food were waiting for her back there. The little things- such as the canteen and Jim's insistence that they get back to the ship- now firmly convinced her that the two of them were still alive. The dead don't need things like clothes, food, water or spaceships, do they? 

It seemed like they had been walking for days and getting nowhere when Aisha tripped and stumbled again. She was in the process of getting to her feet with some help from Jim when the strange, disembodied voice that first greeted them spoke up again. 

"Danger. Danger." the mysterious feminine voice said, emanating from everywhere "They are dead. They are dead. Return them. Return them." 

Jim might as well have been struck by a sledgehammer upon hearing those words. He somehow knew the voice meant Gene and Melfina. He collapsed to his knees next to Aisha, tightly held onto the jacket wrapped around her and slumped against Aisha's shoulder. A single tear rolled from his eye. 

"Aniki...." he whispered. 

Aisha was speechless, looking up at the gold-hued sky and the mysterious sphere that was changing from a rose color to black when Jim tightened his grip on her. Her keen ears couldn't pinpoint which direction the voice was coming from. As she looked at him, her lips formed the words "I'm so sorry Jim", but no sound escaped her mouth. She now regretted ever setting foot in the Leiline. It wasn't right, she thought looking at Jim. Somebody as young as him shouldn't have to suffer this many losses so close together. But..... 

She mustered her remaining strength and got to her feet. Now the boy was leaning on her for support. "Come on Jim, we're almost there." What a horrible lie, she said to herself as she almost stumbled again. She was sure that Gene and Mel were dead, too. However, the voice said something compelling, though. Return them? Was that possible? Clearly there was more to this place than a storehouse for Dragonite. She could only wonder. The 2 of them had to get back to the ship. Even if Melfina and Gene were still alive, they were in no shape to help either of them. Not now at least. 

Jim must have been thinking the same thing when the voice said "Return them". The strength slowly returned to Jim's legs and the C'tarl C'tarl was again leaning on him. It didn't bother him, in fact it was reassuring. If nothing else she was still alive, he thought as he looked up at her. Even though it was unfounded, he still held out hope for Suzuka, Melfina, and Gene still being alive. They didn't come all this way just to die. None of them did. Not a chance.   
  


Together, the two of them continued down the pathway. 


End file.
